Carton erecting machine



June 18, 1963 R. B. HORN I 3,0

,CARTON ERECTING MACHINE Filed Dec; 26, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 17115. El.Zfzzg. Z

INVENTOR. ROBERT B. HORN ZCZWLW ATTORNEYS June 18; 1963 R. B. ORN3,094,045

CARTON ERECTING MACHINE Filed Dec. 26, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.R0 BERT B. HORN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,094,045 CARTON ERECTINGMACHINE Robert B. Horn, Winchester, Ind., assignor to Ball iirgthersCompany, Inc., Muncie, Ind., a corporation of n iana Filed Dec. 26,1961, Ser. No. 162,030

- 2 Claims. (Cl. 93-36) This invention relates to carton erectingmachines and is particularly directed to means which will assure thatthe side walls of the erected carton are so positioned that subsequentfolding of the top and bottom flaps will dispose these elements inproperly squared relationship to the end walls of the carton.

At the present time carton erecting machines operate in such a mannerthat the operator picks up a folded carton and forces it over a horn ofthe machine which spreads the side walls and folds the bottom innerflaps toward each other. The bottom outer flaps at this stage projectdownwardly from the bottom. The partially erected carton is pushedmanually into a sealing machine and the sides engage continuouslyrunning belts which carry the carton through and into gluing stationswhere glue is applied to the bottom inner flaps. The carton is heldbetween two guides while the top and bottom outer flaps are folded intoward the center. The boxes then go into a compression unit and areheld between two belts for a time interval sufficient to allow the glueto dry.

Cartons erected by machines of this character are sometimes completedwith the side and end walls disposed as sides of a rhomboid rather thansides of a rectangular parallelogram. The present invention assures thatthe cartons will be square so that the respective pairs of folded-in topand bottom outer flaps will be directly opposite each other, and willnot project beyond the ends of the box. Projection of the top and/orbottom outer flaps beyond the end walls results in a carton which iscommercially unacceptable and if such a carton is loaded with glassware,for example, it must be unloaded and the glassware repacked in anothercarton for shipment.

The primary object of the present invention, therefore, is to providemeans to so guide and support the sides and ends of a carton as toassure that these walls are substantially at right angles to each other,within commercial limitations.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism which operateson successive cartons automatically and which subjects each successivecarton to a squaring operation, preferably for a predetermined timeperiod.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof,reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a folding section of a carton erectingmachine embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary section on line 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing stop andsquaring members in operative position;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 2, but on an enlarged scaleand showing a carton in full rather than dotted lines, showing the stopand squaring members in released position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram; and

FIGS. 6 and 7 :are diagrammatic plan views of properly and improperlyfolded cartons.

The box or carton squaring device of the present invention comprises, ingeneral, a squaring member placed across the path of progress of the boxthrough the erecting and gluing machine. The squaring member is at 9'0Patented June .18, 19.63.

degrees to the direction of flow of the carton and thus tends to formdegree corners on the cartons, and the side walls of the carton arecontinuously urged against the squaring member by driving belts whichoperate continuously against the sides of the carton. The squaringmember is placed in the path of each successive carton and is releasedand moved out of the Way after being engaged by a carton at the end of apredetermined time for example. When the squaring member is moved out ofthe way, the carton passes thereover and proceeds to the gluing stationfor the application of glue to the squared carton flaps. After thecarton has passed over the squaring member, the squaring member isreturned to the upright position ready for engagement by another carton,and in the preferred embodiment, the time cycle of its operation beginsagain at the moment of engagement withthe next incoming carton.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings inconjunction with a substantially conventional carton erecting machinehaving a frame 10 on which various flap guiding and bending members areprovided. A horn 12 is disposed at the entrance end of the machine andin use the operator takes a flattened carton and forces it over the hornto commence the erecting operation and the sealing of the bottom innerand outer flaps. Cartons therefore move through the machine and in thedirection of the arrows in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4.

During their movement through the machine the partially erected cartonsare supported by longitudinal rails 14.

A pair of oppositely disposed, constantly operating drive belts 15 areprovided which are carried by laterally adjustable side frames 16 andare driven from a motor 17 through an appropriate gearing (not shown).These drive belts are disposed to engage the lower portion of the sidewalls of a carton and move it forwardly, ultimately into engagement witha pair of wide drive belts 20 which are a part of a conventional machineand which move the carton through a folding station and into a gluingstation at which glue is applied to the lower inner flaps, the lowerouter flaps being bent upwardly and held inposition as the cartonsprogress for a sufiicient length of shafts for the wide drive belts 20.The drive belts 15 can.

of course, be driven independently from the main wide drive belts 20. Attheir remote bights the driven belts 15 are trained over pulleys 22 andon their live sides the belts are engaged by idlers .23 carried at theends of pivoted arms 24 and urged outwardly by springs 25 to assure thatthe belts will be forced firmly against the sides of the cartons toexert a substantial and constant driving force forwardly on the cartonsides.

The present invention is particularly directed to a means which willassure that the cartons are square within commercial limitations at thetime the lower outer flaps are bent up to engage the glued lower surfaceof the inner flaps. If the carton side walls are not square with theends at the time this operation is performed, the carton takes on arhomboidal configuration and a part of the lower outer flap extendsbeyond the end wall of the carton rendering it commerciallyinacceptable.

To assure a square configuration of the carton the pres ent inventionincludes a squaring member comprising a plate 30 which is disposed inthe path of the cartons as they move through the machine along the rails14 under the influence of the driving belts '15. The squaring member iscarried on the end of a vertically extending arm 31 which is pivotallyconnected on an axis 32 between the longitudinal rails 14. The squaringmember is disposed to be moved out of the path of the carton after thecarton has been forced against it long enough for the sides to be forcedinto a rectangular position with respect to the end. In the preferredform of the invention shown in the drawing, a time delay device is usedto assure that the squaring contact persists for a predetermined timeinterval.

A stop member 34 is normally disposed in the swinging path of thesquaring member and prevents the squaring member from moving out of thepath of the carton until the stop member is released. The stop membercomprises a vertically disposed arm pivoted at 35 on a sub-frame 36carried by the main machine frame 10. Intermediate its ends the stopmember 34 is connected by a link 37 to the plunger of a solenoid 38 alsocarried by the sub-frame 36. When the solenoid is energized, itsarmature 39 is drawn inwardly and draws the stop member 34 to a positionwhere it is swung out of the path of movement of the squaring member orplate 30 and the latter is then free to be pushed out of the way by thecarton which has been pressed against it by the driving belts 15.

As indicated in FIG. of the drawings the solenoid 38 is energized by atime delay relay 40, the circuit to the time delay relay being closed bya microswitch 41, the lever arm operator for which is designated 42 inFIGS. 2 and 4 and which is engaged by the carton as it enters betweenthe constantly operated driving belts 15. Closure of the microswitch byengagement of a carton with the lever arm operator 42, therefore, startsa time interval after which the relay 40 closes the circuit to thesolenoid 38 and pulls the stop member 34 out of the way of the squaringmember plate 30.

When the squaring member 30 has been swung to its retracted position asshown in FIG. 3, the carton moves over it and as soon as the carton haspassed'the squaring member is restored by a counterweight 50 and thesolenoid is released by opening of the microswitch 41. The squaredcarton passes then into engagement with the Wide drive belts andcontinues through the machine in a conventional manner.

The restored squaring member or plate is in position to receive the nextcarton which is pushed into place between the fisrt set of driving belts15, the microswitch 41 being closed by the advancing carton whichengages the squaring member 30 for a predetermined time intervalsufficient to assure a substantially 90 degree angle between the sideand end walls of the carton prior to its release for engagement with thewide driving belts 20 which will carry it through the remainder of theconventional box erecting operation.

FIG. 6 of the drawing is a bottom plan view of a carton having sideflaps folded in a commercially acceptable manner. It will be noted thatno part of either of the side flaps S extends beyond the end wall of thecarton. While such a carton may not have a precise 90 degree anglebetween sides and ends the variation from the right angle is very small.If a significant variation occurs the side flaps will protrude beyondthe end walls as shown in a somewhat exaggerated manner in FIG. 7. Thisrhomboidal configuration of the carton is not acceptable from acommercial standpoint and if filled, must be emptied and repacked. Thepresent invention has been found to completely obviate the possibilityof misformation of the cartons.

What I claim is:

1. In a carton erecting machine, a pair of drive belts having spaced,parallel, live sides, with at least the surfaces of said live sideswhich are toward the opposite belt lying in parallel planes, means fOrdriving said belts in a common direction, a pivotable squaring memberhaving a carton-engaging surface lying in a plane perpendicular to thedirection of movement of said belts and which is also perpendicular tothe planes of said surfaces of said live sides, the length of saidsquaring member being substantially equal to the distance between theplanes of said surfaces, the plane of said carton-engaging surfaceintersecting the live sides of said belts at intermediate portionsthereof, said belts adapted to frictionally engage side walls of acarton to be erected and said squaring member being adapted to engage anend Wall of the carton to restrict movement of the end wall of thecarton while said belts urge said side walls toward said squaring memberto position said end wall perpendicularly to both of said side walls,means supporting said squaring member for movement into and out of thepath of a carton advanced by said belts, means for yieldingly holdingsaid squaring member in the path of a carton, stop means normallypreventing said squaring member from moving out of the path of a carton,switch means closed by engagement of an entering carton, delay meansactuated by the closing of said switch means, and moving means actuatedby said delay means to move said stop means away from said squaringmember whereby an engaging carton moves said squaring member out of itspath of advancement, and additional belt means beyond said engagingbelts for engaging side walls of the carton and for moving it beyondsaid belts while holding the carton in the squared relationship.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said switch means isspaced from said squaring member toward the entry end of said belts andcapable of operating independently of engagement of a carton with saidsquaring member.

Nitchie et al Dec. 27, 1955 Toennies May 23, 1961

1. IN A CARTON ERECTING MACHINE, A PAIR OF DRIVE BELTS HAVING SPACED,PARALLEL, LIVE SIDES, WITH AT LEAST THE SURFACES OF SAID LIVE SIDESWHICH ARE TOWARD THE OPPOSITE BELT LYING IN PARALLEL PLANES, MEANS FORDRIVING SAID BELTS IN A COMMON DIRECTION, A PIVOTABLE SQUARING MEMBERHAVING A CARTON-ENGAGING SURFACE LYING IN A PLANE PERPENDICULAR TO THEDIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF SAID BELTS WHICH IS ALSO PERPENDICULAR TO THEPLANES OF SAID SURFACES OF SAID LIVE SIDES, THE LENGTH OF SAID SQUARINGMEMBER BEING SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE PLANES OFSAID SURFACES, THE PLANE OF SAID CARTON-ENGAGING SURFACE INTERSECTINGTHE LIVE SIDES OF SAID BELTS AT INTERMEDIATE PORTIONS THEREOF, SAIDBELTS ADAPTED TO FRICTIONALLY ENGAGE SIDE WALLS OF A CARTON TO BEERECTED AND SAID SQUARING MEMBER BEING ADAPTED TO ENGAGE AN END WALL OFTHE CARTON TO RESTRICT MOVEMENT OF THE END WALL OF THE CARTON WHILE SAIDBELTS URGE SAID SIDE WALLS TOWARD SAID SQUARING MEMBER TO POSITION SAIDEND WALL PERPENDICULARLY TO BOTH OF SAID SIDE WALLS, MEANS SUPPORTINGSAID SQUARING MEMBER FOR MOVEMENT INTO AND OUT OF THE PATH OF A CARTONADVANCED BY SAID BELTS, MEANS FOR YIELDINGLY HOLDING SAID SQUARINGMEMBER IN THE PATH OF A CARTON, STOP MEANS NORMALLY PREVENTING SAIDSQUARING MEMBER FROM MOVING OUT OF THE PATH OF A CARTON, SWITCH MEANSCLOSED BY ENGAGEMENT OF AN ENTERING CARTON, DELAY MEANS ACTUATED BY THECLOSING OF SAID SWITCH MEANS, AND MOVING MEANS ACTUATED BY SAID DELAYMEANS TO MOVE SAID STOP MEANS AWAY FROM SAID SQUARING MEMBER WHEREBY ANENGAGING CARTON MOVES SAID SQUARING MEMBER OUT OF ITS PATH OFADVANCEMENT, AND ADDITIONAL BELT MEANS BEYOND SAID ENGAGING BELTS FORENGAGING SIDE WALLS OF THE CARTON AND FOR MOVING IT BEYOND SAID BELTSWHILE HOLDING THE CARTON IN THE SQUARED RELATIONSHIP.